The study that @tamagotchi shared indicated that cohort participants were 20-22 at the start of the longitudinal study, and 38% of them had had a pregnancy.
Thanks for the clarification.
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My great grandmother got married at 14, had 12 children, then died at 37. Ugh.
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MaineLonghorn - my grandmother married at 15 (to a man in his 30s) and her sister married at 13. And they were both working on farms since they were young children.
I often tell my daughter how lucky she is to have been born in the time (and place) that she was…
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Yes, most women are happy to live in today’s world but I wonder how many women Harrison Butker has asked about their life goals. He seams to want to live in the past.
I’m bewildered that someone would say this as a graduation speech to people who probably want more than birthing babies and living in the kitchen.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you," Butker said. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
We still have a long way to go with attitudes like this.
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Was it to a women’s college? How were the remarks received? (Also, if a woman’s college, who thought inviting a football player for their speech was a good idea, isn’t the address supposed to be given by a role model?)
Apparently Harrison Butker provided the commencement address at Benedictine College in Kansas:
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It wasn’t at a women college but I believe it was a Catholic Collage, his remarks are still offensive to these women who had worked hard for their degree.
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It’s so odd for a commencement speech that I’m trying to figure out what made him feel it was appropriate to single out women or how he thought this would be an uplifting message for college graduates.
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Harrison Butker’s mom, the physicist within the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, must be so proud.
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Oh, wow. I’ve always said kids will manage to shock their parents somehow. Like my nephew declaring to his very liberal parents that he was going to join the National Guard (he ended up not doing that, but it was humorous to see their reaction). I don’t think much else would have fazed them.
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And she is a Smith graduate, too!
Elizabeth Keller Butker is an accomplished academic who holds a degree in Chemistry from Smith College
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I guess they raised him to be independent-minded, but I suspect that his independent thoughts disappoint his mom. Maybe it’s some backhanded slap against his mom not giving up her career to dote on him when he was a kid.
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I agree with a lot of this opinion piece.
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Oh. Here it is, laid out in the article:
“I’m beyond blessed with the many talents god has given me," he said, “but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Sigh. One of the neighborhood girls my kids played with has embraced this idea. She is in her early 30’s, pregnant with her seventh child, home schools, and her H is a minister. Whatever floats your boat … but to assume your way is the right way … and to assert this as a fact at a college graduation … is bull.
Maybe the school’s administration should have done a better job vetting their speaker.
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Another eye-roll inducing quote imo:
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and a mother,” Butker added.
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They did. Benedictine College is a faith based institution where “religious values” are an integral part of campus life. I suspect the school’s administration isn’t shocked or upset by Butker’s remarks.
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Maybe’s, if it’s a very conservative Catholic school. But it’s not reflective of typical Catholic teaching. It’s more along the lines of fundamentalist Christian churches.
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Exactly - the kind of church I grew up in. That’s one reason I worked so hard, did well in school, and became an engineer, ha. And still enjoyed motherhood! Geez, it’s not all or nothing.
If you want to see something truly scary, look up the Facebook page for “Transformed Wife.” I found myself engaging with her too much (like when she claimed there’s no such thing as mental illness), so I blocked her. She would totally agree with this guy’s remarks.
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The whole quote was ridiculous. But on second read, the fact that he included “wife” (not just mother) irritated me even more. Is his wife a harlot?
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